


Choose Something Like a Star

by LRMatthews



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: 5+1 Things, Friendship, M/M, Paopu Fruit (Kingdom Hearts), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-23 19:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20345104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LRMatthews/pseuds/LRMatthews
Summary: Five times Sora tried to get a paopu, and one time he didn't.





	Choose Something Like a Star

**Author's Note:**

  * For [photonphoton](https://archiveofourown.org/users/photonphoton/gifts).

> Title taken from Robert Frost's poem "Choose Something Like a Star".
> 
> For Photon, just 'cause. ;-*

_2_

“—ty solid trees over there. I’m thinking at least one house, probably two. Or maybe some kind of deck. And a shed for storage would be good. Biggs has all kinds of scrap wood, so I think it should work out pretty well.”

Aster chuckled, tucking an errant strand of tawny hair behind her ear while she gazed fondly at her husband. His cheeks reddened slightly.

“What?” he asked, self-consciously pushing up his glasses.

“Nothing. Just thinking that you’re more excited about this than Sora ever will be. It’s cute.”

The red deepened and Kylo sniffed, affecting nonchalance though his deep blue eyes were twinkling. “It would have been a really neat thing to have when we were kids, is all. Besides, it’s not just for Sora – it’ll be Riku and Selphie and Wakka, all of the kids. And we’re all going to pitch in.”

“I know,” Aster replied, running a hand down Kylo’s shoulder to his elbow and pulling him in for a peck. Kylo’s face was lit by love as he looked down at his wife before his attention was stolen by something over her head.

“Uh-oh,” he said, grinning wryly. Aster spun around and gave and exasperated sigh.

“Sora!!” The toddler in question turned to look at his mother then grinned and continued reaching for the thing far, _far_ out of his grasp.

Aster jogged over and scooped him up.

“You know the rules!” she scolded gently. “You don’t get this close to the water unless one of us is with you.”

“Stah!” was Sora’s answer, grasping fingers reaching up over his head. Aster looked up and chuckled. There, on top of one of the many small plateaus the sea had carved out of parts of the island ages ago, was a curved tree, a single bring ripe paopu fruit dangling tantalizingly between its leafy fronds.

“That’s a paopu, silly cub,” she told the squirming child in her arms.

“Pahpoo?”

“Mm-hmm. It’s a very special star fruit that grows on these little islands.”

“Wan’ stah!” Sora demanded, stretching up again.

“We can’t reach that one, Sora. There’s no way to get up there right now.” Sora’s round little cheeks scrunched up and angry tears began rolling as he wailed. “Wan’ stah! Wan’ stah!!”

Aster sighed and waved off Kylo as he looked over from his examination of a nearby fresh water source.

“Hey, Sora. Listen to me. Come on, look here.” Aster gently tapped on Sora’s chin until he reluctantly turned his face to hers, his angry cries reduced to sniffles and a mulish expression. “You don’t really want that paopu.” His little brow furrowed, signaling another outburst was imminent.

“No, listen,” Aster hushed him. “Paopu are very special fruits. You want to wait to take it until you have someone special to share it with.”

“Speh …?”

“Yes. Someone very special. When you share it with someone like that, your hearts will always be connected. That’s why paopu are so special.”

Sora looked back up at the fruit, then at his mother, then out to the sea, thinking.

“You!” he suddenly declared, poking a finger in his mother’s chest. “Sheh mama!”

“Oh, my little heart.” Aster hugged him close and kissed his head. “It makes me so happy for you to say that. But you don’t need to share one with me because our hearts are already connected, and they always will be. You’re my little light that I always carry in here,” Aster told him, putting a hand to her chest.

“Heah?” Sora asked, putting a finger over his mother’s hand.

“Mm-hmm. So you wait and you save that paopu for another day. And if you find someone you want your heart to be connected with, you can give it to that person with meaning.”

Sora’s face lit up in a grin and he bounced in her arms. “‘K!”

“Good. I’ll tell you what we can do today, though. We can make some paopu pudding and enjoy the taste!”

“Yay!”

“After we drag your daddy away from this island …”

“Dada! _Dada!!_”

_4_

“—ot to go without them!”

Riku scoffed as he continued unwinding the rope from the dock, stretched precariously far over the side of the little boat.

“It’ll be fine,” he told Sora. “The sea is calm and we made sure no storms are coming. We can both swim. Besides, I’m five now, I can pr’tect you.” He sat up and put his hands on his hips during this declaration, almost ruining the posture by wobbling when the boat gently rocked. Sora didn’t seem to notice, taken in by Riku’s boldness.

“And,” Riku continued as he detached the last coil of rope, “we’ll be back before they notice.” He grinned at Sora, who grinned back, before they set off.

The journey took quite a bit longer than either expected as neither had rowed the entire length on their own yet and Sora, still being small, had trouble managing an oar by himself (or even lifting it, really). The sun, which had just been setting when they started, had slipped completely below the sea and the sky was growing quite dark.

Those obstacles aside, they made it to their play island without incident and, after tethering the boat, spent several minutes splayed like starfish on the shore, catching their breath. Before long though they were back on their feet, grinning and giggling and chasing each other over the sand.

They ran up to the boat deck and played at being pirates for a while, searching the night ocean for rival ships or new islands to explore. Eventually, lacking other playmates to stand in for enemy pirates, they staged a mock battle against each other with their wooden play swords, Riku rather quickly disarming Sora who affected a very dramatic death scene.

When they’d worn out their piratey imaginations, Riku wanted to look at the hidden place they’d discovered a couple of weeks before. But they managed only a few steps inside the stone tunnel before Sora pleaded to retreat, nervous by the lack of light inside.

Instead they tromped back down to the shoreline to watch the little crabs that popped in and out of their tiny hole homes and skittered across the sand. Sora had Riku collapsed with helpless laughter for several minutes after deciding that he could catch one – “Just to look better!” – and diving many times only to catch a fistful (or mouthful) of sodden sand.

Eventually Sora tired himself out and sprawled by Riku, huffing and puffing and spitting out occasional grains. A pleasant silence descended as they laid there listening to the gentle waves and gazing up at the stars.

A sudden breeze drew Sora’s attention away from the sky and over to the curved tree high above them. As its fronds shifted, Sora could see something light-colored peeking between them. He pushed up onto his hands to see better and just made out two soft points of a star.

“Riku!” he called, excited. “Let’s go up there!” He clamored to his feet, pointing with one hand and pulling at Riku’s wrist with the other.

“Ok, ok” Riku laughed, getting up and scruffing a hand through Sora’s hair. They raced to the shack, up the stairs through the back, and across the bridge that had been finished only a few months ago. Sora had been so excited the first time he was able to get to the tree he’d loved as long as he could remember. That excitement had been somewhat tempered by disappointment when Sora saw no stars hiding in its broad leaves.

But now it was here! And he was going to get it! His mother’s voice spoke softly in the back of his mind that it wasn’t time yet, that he didn’t have someone he wanted to share it with, but it couldn’t hurt to bring it down now just to look at it. Besides, it would be good practice!

Sora happily climbed up onto the wide smooth trunk, carefully sidestepping to where it began curving back upwards. Riku followed him, taking a seat nearer the middle of the sideways bend, swinging his feet and gazing up at the sky. Sora began feeling around the trunk, searching for any handholds or rough spots. It seemed, though, like this part was just as smooth as the rest. Maybe he could wrap his arms around it and shimmy up … but his arms just weren’t … quite … long enough…

“What’re you doing?” Riku tipped his head back and forth until he saw the paopu fruit. “Chasing a star?” He laughed when Sora let out a groan after trying to stretch his arms farther than they possibly could. “Or you just like the tree so much you wanna give it a hug?”

“Ughh,” Sora groaned again, glaring up at the star that just a few minutes ago seemed so attainable. “I’m gonna get it! I just hafta try real hard!”

Riku gave another soft laugh and turned back to the distant glittering stars above. Sora tried once more to find _any_ kind of handhold or make his arms stretch just a _bit_ further but it was no use and he slowly let his arms drop, disappointment coursing through him and welling in his eyes. Sora closed them, took a deep breath in and let it out again. It was ok. He would get his star someday. He just had to wait. _Just have to wait, just have to wait_ …

“Hey, Sora, look!” Sora turned, caught by the bemused wonder in Riku’s voice, then followed Riku’s finger pointing up into the sky. There was an odd streak of light for a moment before it disappeared.

“Huh?” Sora sat down next to Riku, eyes fixed overhead. A few moments passed and then a point of light suddenly seemed to drop out of the sky, trailing a bright line before winking out.

“What … what _was_ that?” Sora whispered.

“I don’t know,” Riku answered softly. “It looked like a star just … _fell_. Out of the sky.”

“Do stars … _do_ that?”

“I don’t know,” Riku said again, mouth turned down in annoyance. He didn’t like not knowing things. But then he smiled over at Sora and said, “It was a pretty special star, though, huh?”

Sora thought about it for a second then grinned back at Riku, kicking his heels against the tree trunk.

“Yeah, it was!”

_8_

“—ame at me, whipping her jump rope and _man_ do you know how hard those handles are? I mean _ow_. But she tried it again and I got my staff up _just right_ next time she tried it, _wthhr_!” Tidus twirled his finger, presumably in representation of the rope twisting around the staff.

“Gave it a yank,” he continued exuberantly, “_boom_ – Selphie’s got a face full of sand. Hyah!” Tidus swung his arm down, wielding a pretend staff, then bounced back into one of his back flips (perfected earlier in the year and performed as many times as possible since).

Sora laughed at Tidus’s self-confident attitude. Tidus, Selphie and Wakka had been _really_ into battling each other lately (or, at least, Wakka let himself be drawn into battles easily – being four years older and with a generally laconic personality, he didn’t get enthusiastic about much of anything). Their eagerness often drew Sora in as well, though on the whole he preferred to take it all in fun instead of as a competition.

“I’m tellin’ you, I’m getting pretty good,” Tidus continued. “Soon I’ll be taking down Wakka every time and then it’s on to Riku!” Tidus bounced around, swinging his imaginary staff with gusto and grunting “Hahh!”s and “Hyah!”s.

“Hey!” Sora protested. “What about me?”

Tidus gave him a skeptical look. “Sure, you’re good for practice, too, I guess. But let’s face it – you’re no Riku.”

“Hmph,” Sora grunted, crossing his arms and frowning. Of course he knew he wasn’t Riku – _nobody_ was, not even Wakka. Well, it was hard to compare them given that Riku favored wooden swords and Wakka had a mean arm with blitz balls, but if they actually decided to have a real fight, Sora would definitely put his munnies on Riku.

It was still irritating to be discounted though, especially since Sora had been keeping up pretty well, he thought. Riku might have the advantage of age and height … and strength … and speed … but, well, Sora did alright! He hadn’t beaten Riku yet – not even close – but he was getting a _lot_ better at blocking and dodging.

“I’m gonna go up to the deck,” Tidus said. “You coming?”

“No, I’m going to go up to the tree.” Tidus chuckled and with a “See ya later!” trotted off. Sora headed in the opposite direction, up the stairs and across the bridge. He wanted to see Riku, but it had also occurred to Sora that it was just about the right time of year…

Riku was sitting on the trunk of the paopu tree, kicking his heels and looking out at the ocean. He turned and smiled when he heard Sora’s pounding footsteps.

“Hey,” Riku greeted over his shoulder.

“Feel like sparring?” Sora asked a bit breathlessly in lieu of a greeting.

“Sure,” Riku agreed readily with a shrug.

“Great! Just gimme a minute.” Sora scrambled up onto the trunk at the upward curve, craning his neck to peer into the leaves. He couldn’t see any hint of yellow – maybe it hadn’t ripened yet…

“If you’re looking for a paopu, Wakka grabbed it a while ago. Said he was hungry.”

“What?” Sora yelped. “Why didn’t he just take a coconut?”

“Uh, because they’re not ripe?”

“Like he would even notice,” Sora grumbled. Riku had been giving Sora stranger and stranger looks, but now his brow furrowed, a touch of reproach in his eyes.

“Sorry,” Sora mumbled, slumping down into a gangly ball, head tucked between his knees with his arms wrapped over top.

“What’s that all about?” Riku asked, not unkindly, eyeing Sora with an uncertain concern.

“Just wanted to get a paopu,” Sora muttered into his knees. Riku huffed out a breath that wasn’t quite a sigh or a laugh.

“You’re still into that?” Riku shook his head. “Pretty sure you and Selphie are the only ones. Well, maybe Kairi, too. Seriously though.”

Sora dropped his arms with a heartfelt sigh. “I just want to get one _once_.”

“Who would you even share it with?”

Sora sat up a bit, face scrunched in thought. Eventually he shrugged. “I dunno. No one right now, I guess.”

Riku laughed. “Then what’s the point?”

“I just want to get one,” Sora grumped.

“Alright, alright,” Riku chuckled, getting up and grabbing the wooden sword he had discarded under the trunk of the paopu tree. “Let’s play, huh?”

“Ok,” Sora agreed, brightening as he hopped down and ran to the shed for his own sword.

_14_

“—st really been thinking about it lately and why not?” Riku’s enthusiasm was infectious and Sora found himself getting excited about the idea, too.

“Who _knows_ what might be out there,” Riku continued, hands waving to emphasize. “Things we can’t even _imagine_. This place is so _small_. It just _can’t_ be everything.” Sora didn’t necessarily agree with that – he _liked_ Destiny Islands and found it hard to imagine being anywhere else. But the mystery of Kairi’s past had sparked his curiosity and Riku’s fervor knew no bounds, pulling Sora along in its wake.

“We’re going to need a lot of stuff,” was Sora’s input.

“Yep,” agreed Riku.

Over the next few days they met with Kairi on the play island, usually in their secret spot. (Riku wasn’t thrilled at their choice of location as the inches he’d been sprouting made entering more difficult, but agreed with their desire not to have to explain what they were doing to anyone else.) They planned and plotted, drawing designs in the sand and making mental lists of materials and supplies they would need, mostly relegating these to Kairi’s frighteningly organized mind. Finally there was no more they could plan, every facet they could think of examined, so they began gathering.

The trio chose the far side of the island as their place of construction. It was infrequently travelled by anyone else – there had been an attempt to add bridges and play areas as on the other parts of the island; however, without any firm surfaces to anchor on, all loose sands and young, bendy trees, the structures had collapsed in several places and were deemed unsafe for use. But there was enough clear shoreline for them to have building space and a handy niche in a large boulder where they could leave smaller items.

So they collected: logs, thick branches, and peels of bark; thick vines and rope where they could take some without it being missed; swathes of cloth and smaller but hearty vines, plus long, sharp spines which Kairi punctured eyes into; container upon container of fresh water, coconuts, bananas, nuts, bean pods, seeds and, really, anything they thought they could take that wouldn’t spoil in a day.

Finally they began building. The deck of the raft came together easily which made it all the more frustrating when they had such trouble erecting the mast with its patchwork sail. But they figured it out, as they had everything else, and kept on going. Before long – much sooner than any of them expected – it was almost finished and they realized they would be able to set sail in two days. The next day, Kairi went to gather last minute provisions and Riku and Sora took the opportunity to bicker.

“‘Highwind’ is the _perfect_ name,” Riku insisted. “What would you call it, anyway?”

“Something cooler,” Sora insisted right back. “Like … ‘_Excaliber_’.” He spread his hands to emphasize the awesomeness of the name.

“‘_Excaliber_’?” Riku looked at him askance. “What does that even _mean_?”

“I dunno,” Sora shrugged. “It just sounds really cool.” Riku snorted, arms crossed and foot tapping.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” he said a moment later. “Foot race over the bridge from there” —he pointed to the end nearer the dock side of the island— “to there” —now the other end of the broken bridge— “and back. Winner gets to name the raft.”

Sora scratched his head. “We could just ask Kairi.” Riku frowned. Then suddenly he dropped his arms, putting his hands on his hips. Sora didn’t like the look on his face.

“Let’s add something then,” Riku offered. “Winner gets to name the raft _and_ … shares a paopu with Kairi.” Sora’s stomach twisted unpleasantly and his eyes couldn’t help flicking to the tree he could just see over Riku’s shoulder. He had seen the greenish points up in the leaves a couple days ago – by tomorrow the paopu would be ripe.

And yes, Sora planned to get it and offer it to Kairi. He’d finally figured out who he wanted to share it with, be connected to. Sora’s face flushed at the thought that Riku knew, too, maybe even saw the drawing Sora had added last evening in the secret spot.

He was also angry at the implication that Riku wanted to share a paopu with Kairi. Sora wasn’t truly sure because sometimes Riku kept things to himself, not showing anyone. But he’d never had the impression that Riku felt even a bit the way Sora did about Kairi. And before they took this journey, without knowing what they might find or where they might end up, Sora wanted that connection, wanted to feel her nestled inside his heart easing the ache there now.

A combination of anger and the twisted pinch in his gut had Sora agreeing to the race. They got in place immediately, wanting to get it over with and avoid Kairi finding out what they were doing and taking them to task for their stupidity.

“Ready?” Sora asked, setting his feet. Riku nodded, allowed the tension to linger a moment more, then

“Go!” They pounded off over the dilapidated bridge, Sora almost tripping and going down when a board or two caved under the pressure and tumbled to the sand. He regained some time by grabbing on the zip line, dropping off before he hit the stop that didn’t actually exist. That brought him to the endpoint and he whirled around and started back the other way, seeing Riku just a step behind.

It was a flat-out sprint to the finish now, as much as they could sprint on boulders and uneven sand. Sora couldn’t help a smile over his shoulder at Riku as they approached the finish line and he found it returned even as Riku tried to overtake Sora. The effort wasn’t quite enough, though, and they pulled to a halt before crashing face-first into the rock wall they’d started at, Sora slapping a hand there first while gulping in heaving breaths.

For several long minutes they stood there simply breathing and then they looked at each other – someone started laughing and suddenly they were on the sand clutching their sides.

“‘Highwind’ is a pretty good name,” Sora finally admitted as the laughter died down.

“I know,” Riku answered with a haughty grin. Sora responded with a handful of sand. When Riku was done brushing it out of his hair and spitting it out of his mouth, he added, “Guess you have something to get, huh?”

But it never happened. After they settled down, they finished organizing the last of their supplies. And after that Kairi called Sora aside for a disturbing conversation that left the sweetness of the paopu far from his thoughts. There was a part of him, of course, that thrilled at the idea that Kairi wanted to go away with just him, that maybe she wanted that special connection just as much as he did. But wanting to sail away without Riku … he’d known Riku as long as he’d known anyone and the whole thing had been largely led by him. Sora would no more leave Riku than he would Kairi.

The trio and other children were forced to flee their play island in the late afternoon due to an unexpected storm. At home, Sora paused long enough to let his mother know he was in before pounding up to his room and flopping on is bed, arms crossed behind his head. Then he drifted while his thoughts whirled around his apprehension and excitement over their journey tomorrow and anticipation of snagging that paopu for Kairi before they left.

_15 (maybe?)_

Sora inhaled deeply and let it out with a bright smile. It was _so good_ to be here. Nowhere of the many places he’d been could replicate the sound of the waves, the salty spray in his face, the wonderful heat seeping into every bit of him.

_—o—a—_

Of course, it wasn’t so hot at the moment, being twilight. No, wait, just before dawn. Either way, he had the island to himself. Idly, he wondered where Kairi and Riku were—

_S—a!_

—probably in bed at this hour. Perfect time, then, to stroll around and reacquaint himself with their beloved play island. Their return had been so brief before they’d had to run off again … somewhere.

_—or—_

Really, Sora supposed, they were getting too old to be playing around here as much as they did. But it was still fun and _theirs_ in a way it would never belong to any of the younger kids enjoying its delights.

_—ra, ple—_

He took a peek at the Door in the secret place (now that he knew what it was). The wall was smooth, no hint that anything important ever lay there. He was tempted to pull the Keyblade and just check … but really, there was no point.

_—ke u—_

Sora’s wanderings took him up and over the bridge to the paopu tree, so lost in thought he hardly knew how he’d gotten there. He couldn’t have spent _too_ long meandering, though, because the sun still hadn’t broken the horizon.

_So—a –up!_

Sora let his legs swing idly as he sat on the paopu trunk, watching the fading stars as long as he could before the sun rose and hid them. There were so many and as many worlds as he had been to, it was clear he’d seen only the smallest portion of what was out there. How many more might he see yet? Assuming he saw anymore at all. After all, they had won, hadn’t they?

_—ORA!_

As he sat and looked and waited, Sora let his head tip back, far enough that he caught a light spot in the leaves above out of the corner of his eye. He twisted his neck to get a better look and saw yes, it was a paopu. Sora scrambled to his feet, heart suddenly racing with excitement. This was it. He was _finally_ going to get it. There was no one else around to get it first, no emergencies to attend to, nothing to distract him from the perfect star hanging up there, ready for him to take and share with … someone.

_S— —lea— w—ke –p!_

He scaled the trunk easily, no challenge for him now with the strength and skills he’d gained. Legs wrapped firmly and shoes dug in the bark, Sora reached out slowly and brushed the closest point of the fruit. Gently, he grasped its middle and gave a twist and tug, separating it from its stem. He brought it down to his face, cradling it in his palm. He’d done it. He had finally _done_ it! So many years, and here it was, perfect.

_Pl—ase!!_

He thrust his hand into the air, showing the fruit off to the sky, _look at my star_. The wide smile he also showed faded suddenly when another light spot caught Sora’s eye.

_—ora!_

That couldn’t be … but it was. There was another paopu, dangling just within reach, perfectly shaped and perfectly ripe, just like the one in his hand.

_S—_

And … another. And there was another. And… Sora shook his head, a chill shivering through the core of him. This wasn’t right.

_—ra!_

It had never been this easy. This … _wasn’t right_. This was _wrong_. He dropped hastily out of the tree, scanning around for … _anything_.

_Co— on!_

Nothing else seemed out of place although … the sun. The sun really should have been up by now.

_WA— U—_

Sora dropped the paopu that was still in his hand, backing away from it wide-eyed. He stumbled over a root and landed on his rear, frantic gaze now cast upward. Tens, maybe hundreds of paopu fruits hung from the tree, so thick the leaves could hardly be seen.

_S—ra!_

This wasn’t right, he didn’t understand what was happening.

_SOR—_

He needed to get out, he needed—

_SORA!_

He needed to—

_WAKE UP!!_

_now_

“—lue, dilly dilly, _hmm hmm-hmm_ green. If I were _hmm_, _dum-dum dum-dum_, you’d be my…” Sora let the tune trail off, though that didn’t stop it bouncing around his head, as it had been for a while now. He had no idea where it had come from in the first place. At this point he’d shared his heart with so many others there was some bleed-through, of fleeting thoughts, watered down snapshots of memory, emotions tied to things he didn’t know. The song was just another mystery he’d probably never learn the answer to (though he had a distinct impression of Tifa on the “dilly dilly” part, despite being _nearly_ positive her consciousness had never hitched a ride).

Just another piece of flotsam in a heart that felt too big and all the emptier for it. Something was missing, he knew that much although he couldn’t have said what it was. Something had been stolen from him while he’d slept and in his duller moments he wondered if he’d ever get it back.

Sora let out a gentle sigh, tilting his head which rested on his arms, and shuffling his heels closer to his backside. From this new vantage he could see an object swaying slowly out of the corner of his eye. Sora shut his eyes to the sight, no longer appealing to him.

He stayed that way several long minutes until rustling drew his eyes open again. This time the sight was a much more welcome one and he tilted his head further to an almost uncomfortable degree to smile up as Riku settled onto the bend of trunk above.

“Where did you go?” Riku asked quietly as he peered down at Sora with a gentle smile.

“Went to see my parents,” Sora answered, turning his head back to stare out at the ocean. _That_ had been a fun visit. Not that he could blame them. He couldn’t even imagine… And he’d seen his parents cry before, but he didn’t think he’d ever forget the way his mother’s eyes looked, so full to the brim but never quite spilling over (his dad hadn’t managed the same feat).

“Ah,” Riku responded softly, a wealth of understanding in that one syllable. Sora knew Riku had had the same conversation with his parents at some point – or a variant of it – though they had never talked about it with each other. Sometimes, with some things, it was just hard to talk. Like how Destiny Islands was still beautiful and still home … but really, nothing would ever feel like home again.

Like how something he’d dreamed of for _so_ long, even when it was within reach just … didn’t really seem to have a point anymore.

They sat in silence for a while, Sora staring at the water, thoughts as empty as the space inside him, Riku leaning back on his hands and looking alternately between the sky above and the tufts of brown dancing on his friend’s head. One of his upward glances revealed the treasure hiding above and he grinned to think of Sora’s excitement when he saw it.

“Hey, Sora,” he called, pointing up. Sora turned his head and followed Riku’s finger to the deep yellow star in the tree, the half-smile on his face taking on a melancholy cast. Riku’s grin faded a bit.

“It looks perfect, doesn’t it?” he tried again.

Sora’s smile widened though it still lacked the joy Riku expected to see. “Yeah, it really does,” Sora agreed quietly. Riku’s arm dropped slowly and his brow knit in confusion.

“Aren’t you going to get it?” There was an odd note of hope in his voice that Sora couldn’t quite understand and didn’t want to disappoint. But he answered simply and honestly, “No.” What was left of Riku’s smile died off and became consternation, nestled between the brows hiding under his bangs.

“But … why not? You’ve been wanting it for years.” Sora released a silent sigh as he unfolded his arms and stretched out his legs. He didn’t know how to explain to Riku what he couldn’t quite understand himself, but he thought he owed it to his friend to try.

“It just … doesn’t seem important anymore. I’m not sure I really believe it’s anything special anyway. All the things we’ve seen and learned … what kind of sense would it make that something from our world would have the power to connect hearts?”

Something in Riku felt like it was being squeezed tighter and tighter as Sora spoke, setting his heart pounding and his breath stuttering, his fists clenching by his sides. He couldn’t even tell if he was angry or upset or what. It just felt _wrong_. Not that he’d ever believed the paopu story himself, but Sora _had_. Deeply, wholly and unconditionally. This, more than anything, demonstrated to Riku how very much the past year (or two?) had affected Sora down to his core.

Some of Riku’s thoughts had to have been showing on his face because Sora suddenly rose with a small but genuine smile.

“Don’t tell me _you_ started to believe it,” he joked, poking Riku in the arm.

“Well, no,” Riku answered slowly, uncertainty evident. “But _you_ always did. It was like … your life-long goal. I just … it’s surprising to hear you say you don’t want it. Like … you’re giving up.”

The words gave Sora a pang, but he supposed that was how it must look to Riku, even if it wasn’t quite how Sora felt.

“It’s not _giving up_,” he started to explain. “It’s … it’s not important anymore because … well, there’s so many other ways hearts connect, isn’t there? Isn’t that what we saw? So what I mean is … it’s the connections that are important, not fruit.” Sora scratched the back of his head in irritation. He _knew_ he wouldn’t be able to make his feelings understood. How could he when he couldn’t unravel them himself? He grimaced at Riku and gave a little shrug.

Riku was frowning by now and suddenly stood. Sora couldn’t help tensing, dropping his arm and straightening, unsure what to expect. What he certainly was _not_ expecting was for Riku to suddenly spin around and hop up on the paopu trunk. He looked up at the yellow fruit then sprang into the air, snatching it neatly before spinning around and landing gracefully on his feet next to Sora.

“Show off,” Sora teased, sticking out his tongue and pulling down his lower eyelid. Riku raised a brow and gave him a wry smirk but quickly dropped it for a serious expression.

“You’re right, Sora,” Riku began softly. “I don’t believe the paopu have some kind of magical power – I never did. But I _do_ believe that the intention behind it is important. Meaningful. So…” He hesitated for a moment then reached out to take Sora’s hand. He turned it palm up and gently placed the paopu there. “I’m giving it to you.”

Sora gave Riku another smile, pushing down the pleasurable ache in the pit of his stomach. Riku really was the best friend he’d ever had.

“Riku, that’s … _so_ nice, but I told you—”

“No, Sora,” Riku interrupted, still quietly but firmly. “I’m _giving_ it to you.” And with that he simply held Sora’s gaze. All Sora could do was stare back, trying to understand what was going. Well, he _thought_ he knew but … but that couldn’t be. Could it? He flicked his eyes down to the sunset yellow star then back up to Riku’s serene teal eyes. Riku’s hand was still under Sora’s and he could feel the tension in it, belying Riku’s otherwise calm demeanor.

Maybe it could be after all.

Sora felt a smile tightening his cheeks before he was truly aware he was doing it.

“Yeah?” he couldn’t help asking. When Riku nodded, Sora sprang up on his toes to wrap his arms around Riku’s neck, squeezing close. “Thank you,” he added softly. Riku’s answer was a quiet laugh through his nose and arms which wrapped tightly around Sora’s back. Sora thought it was probably the warmest feeling he’d ever had spreading through him at that moment, filling a small part of that emptiness in his heart.

Though he gladly would have stood there all day fitted together with Riku, Sora _was_ aware that he could not, in fact, do that, and reluctantly pulled away. Riku let him go without protest, his eyes shining with such affection and contentment… Sora just couldn’t help himself and before he was quite aware of what he was doing, he had grabbed the sides of Riku’s face and locked their lips together. And _oh_. _Wow_. The warmth Sora had felt before was a fluffy blanket compared to the frenzy of sparks firing through him. _This_. This was what he had always wanted, how he imagined he would feel sharing the paopu with someone he—

Sora broke away abruptly as awareness caught up with him. For a moment he and Riku stared wide-eyed at one another, a blush coloring Riku’s cheeks and the bridge of his nose (Sora could feel a matching warmth on his own face).

“You didn’t think about that at all before you did it, did you,” Riku finally spoke, less a question than a statement, but Sora answered anyway.

“Uh, no. Not really.” He ducked his head, scratching the back nervously. Had he made a mistake? It didn’t feel like a mistake, but…

Sora’s doubtful thoughts dashed away when he realized Riku was laughing. He tipped his head up to see the quiet chuckles build into a hearty, _wonderful_ sound that shook Riku’s shoulders.

“Only you, Sora,” Riku finally said, a wide smile still lighting his face. Soar grinned in response, daringly wrapping his fingers around Riku’s shoulder.

“And if I said I’d thought about it this time?” he asked, full of optimism and hope. Riku laughed again, slipping his arms surely around Sora’s back, hands delightfully warm through Sora’s shirt.

“I would say I have, too.” Sora allowed his mouth another irrepressible grin before matching it to Riku’s, reveling in the warm skin and thick locks beneath his fingers, and the strong well-known arms holding him close. The paopu lay on the ground beside them, forgotten but not meaningless.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written 21 August '19.
> 
> Mostly 'cause I've been wanting to do a 5+1.
> 
> On a more personal note: It was really special to me to write a small scene with Sora's parents. Fiction of all kinds requires a suspension of disbelief, not just of the extraordinary, but the mundane, and one of the things that has always bothered me about the series is the parents (probably because I am one myself). I don't know what any of the other children's family situations are, but at the very least we KNOW Sora has a mom because we hear her voice. Granted, she disappears with the world and then presumably forgets about her son (which is a horror all its own), but afterwards DEAR LORD. What were her thoughts and feelings? How agonized must she have been over her missing or at least absent child? Did Sora ever visit? I don't expect a teenager gives much of a damn about their parents' worries, especially when they're doing something awesome like saving multiple worlds. But I'll say this much: If my kids ever do the same thing some day THEY DAMN WELL BETTER DROP A LINE NOW AND THEN.


End file.
